When I usually think of simulation games the first kind of game that comes to my mind would be The Sims or SimCity. Yet there is a whole other world of simulation games that many fans have fallen in love with for years, but most of these game have been seen more on the PC. Today we’re going to take a look at a simulation game that is unlike anything that I personally have ever played before,and I started to learn that the challenge is a part of the experience just as much as it is about the game play.

I am an Air Traffic Controller: Airport Hero Narita has you taking control of the Control Tower of an airport in which you will have the final say about planes both coming and going. The challenge comes with being able to decide which planes are going to be able to land or take off on certain runways and also making sure that where the planes are going to be parking does not interfere with any other airplanes as well. This is one game that I highly recommend using the built-in tutorials as they will teach you the ropes of the game and give you a basic idea of how the game will be played.

Whether you’re taking off or arriving the game uses a very simple type of control scheme that allows for easy navigation and quick to learn controls, that’s not to say easy by any stretch of the imagination. While the game does start off much simpler in the beginning stages it quickly ramps up with decisions that need to be made very quickly otherwise you’ll have to face the penalty of redoing the entire level.

If there is a plane that is heading into your airport there is a box on the bottom screen that will appear, clicking this box is what indicates to the airplane about what to do next. The game is basically watching the top screen and interacting with the bottom screen. Some decisions need to be made quickly, while others can be made whenever the player wants to.

The game looks fine and while it’s nothing special and won’t be blowing anybody away, the 3d effect was a little bit too strong for my eyes and I was unable to really play with it on. The interface looks clean and crisp is easy to understand once the player understands what’s going on, but at the end of the day it’s a very sleek interface that works well for this type of game.

The biggest problem with the game play is how slow the game moves overall, now there are times when it’s good to be slow because there’s lots of things that players are trying to handle at the same time. There are other times that a fast forward button would have come in handy to make overly long landings taking off and just general moving from one place to another at least move a little bit quicker.

This is a game for simulation fans who love this kind of simulation game that allows them to fully take control of an airport and decide what planes are going to be taking off we’re there to be taking off from and making sure that these planes don’t crash into one another. The game does feel like it might be lacking a few extra simulation features that bigger games such as big truck simulator or farming simulator have had for a very long time. Airport Hero Narita overall feels like a “my first simulator” type game there’s a lot to do there’s a lot to take control of but you’re really just pushing a couple of buttons to watch things happen.

The music in the game is very upbeat and catchy and well its not going to stay in your head it fits the gameplay overall and it is enjoyable listen to. During the game whenever there is some sort of message that is going to be displayed or given to the player there is full voice over during the entire game. Which is nice because the majority of it sounds like it’s coming from the cockpit of an airplane, from the control tower, or where ever the voice is supposed to be coming from it fits the overall atmosphere and the game very well.

The Recommendation

This is a tough game to recommend for a $20 price tag for the Nintendo eShop, the gameplay is solid and I can see how this game will be fun to people who like this type of simulation game, but there is also a few other simulations style games that are a little bit more fun and actually feel more of a game than this one does overall like Flight Control for DSiware. If you do plan to buy this just be prepared for the waiting, and the tense moments.